Calm and Quiet and new Kennel

Last night Kobi and I tagged along to a soccer game my fiance's friends invited him to. I thought it would a fantastic opportunity to work on him being calm and quiet in an outdoor environment with a lot of noise and movement.

I packed up Kobi's bed, some high value treats (homemade freeze dried liver)  and his tug toy. Turns out the bed was a little unnecessary as he was much happier on the grass. But we got there and got settled as quickly as we could. Those first few minutes are always the hardest because all Kobi wants to do is run and meet people and play. Once I got his bed out he knew what was going on and though reluctant, laid down and started taking treats.
For the first half hour I was pez dispensing like a machine just to keep him from barking. The second half hour he had settled down enough that I was able to get some pictures! At that point though my fiance was playing closer to our side of the field and it was funny watching Kobi keeping his eyes glued on him to see what he was doing. But he stayed laying down and stayed quiet!

Kobi found himself a huge stick to play with, not unsual

I also bought a new kennel for us yesterday. I had found a cheap plastic one on Kijiji that I have just bought the week before, but I quickly discovered when picking it up, plastic crates are massive and aren't the best thing to have to lug around and put together. So I knew I either wanted a wire crate or a fabric one, but needed to keep an eye out for a relatively cheap one. Turns out one was spotted at winners! So yesterday morning I went to check it out. I must of looked like a crazy person trying to assemble this huge crate in the middle of the pet aisle at Winners but I needed to be sure Kobi would fit inside. So for $50 I found a large fabric crate that will be perfect for agility. It's nice and vented for those warm days, and it has a roof opening so that taller dogs can sit straight up in them (I'm not sure how well that would work but for me it's nice to be able to throw treats in from above while keeping the door closed.
The only thing I don't like about this crate  is that the door is on the long side of it rather then the short end. Kobi is still convinced that the crate will eat him, but at least with the plastic crate it was easy to toss some high value treats to the very back and have him go look for them and then work on getting him to turn around in the crate and finally lay down in it. We were making some serious progress with the plastic one but are now back ti square one with the fabric one. The problem with the side opening is that Kobi only needs to get his front paws into find the treats and I don't want to just shove his back legs in (as tempting as it is) because I know it'll freak him right out. I'll take my time and hopefully he'll learn to love it. Hopefully soon because I would like to start taking it to class with me so that he can learn to relax in his crate while other dogs are around.

Kennel Games during meal time

Since getting the new Kennel for Kobi, feedings have been our training times with the kennel.

For the first couple of days we would just toss handfuls of his meals into the back of the kennel just to get his head and eventually all four feet inside.
Once he was able to get all his feet inside we then worked on getting him to turn around in the kennel and feeding him towards the front of the kennel while his whole body was inside.
 The next day we worked on getting him to lie down in the kennel and would only get food if he was lying down in the kennel.
The next day we worked on having him "Go to his Kennel", turn around and lie down before he would get food and to be able to do this repeatedly.
We focused on getting him in and lying down for a couple of days to make sure he was comfortable in the kennel before progressing to some more "difficult" kennel games.

These games would be great for a puppy as well to make sure that they really love their kennel. We still don't have the door on the kennel and won't be adding it until Kobi is able to stay in the kennel for extended periods of time without it. The point of this is that the door shouldn't make him feel trapped in the kennel, the door will become more of a security measure to ensure he doesn't leave the kennel when I'm not looking to reinforce that he is only allowed to exit the kennel when given his release cue, which for us is  "release".

Kennel Game #1

Once they are getting comfortable going into the kennel and laying down, start extending the period of time between treats. Make sure that your dog is successful, try to avoid having them get up and exit before they are released. To avoid that, start with very short periods of time, just a few seconds, and reward often as well as release them often. Once they start to get the idea that staying in the kennel gets them treats, start leaving the room, sit on the couch, run around, do jumping jacks, make your cat walk by, anything! to start generalizing having them staying in the kennel. This is taught the same as with a stay, the only difference being they can move and change positions in the kennel, so long as they don't leave it. Be sure to decrease your expectations as you increase the difficulty. (We're still at the leave for just a couple seconds phase but this is how I trained Kobi's stay which is pretty solid).

Kennel Game #2

This game can be taught first if your dog doesn't have a great stay or has never been taught a release cue. Kobi knows what "release" means so he only needed a small amount of work to generalize the release cue to the kennel as well. You can use a new release cue for the kennel or the same one you already use. To teach them that they are only allowed out when released, have them enter into the kennel and say your cue word before they exit the kennel. At first it's okay if they walk straight out, so long as you say your cue word before they exit. After a few times get them to wait a few seconds before giving your cue. If they try to leave before the cue is given just block the doorway so that they must stay inside. They can be in any position when the cue is given so long as they are still inside the kennel. If they are for whatever reason reluctant to leave the kennel, try to encourage them out. If you find you need to give a lot of encouragement to get them out or they just aren't moving, attach a leash to their collar and give a light tug to get them to come out when the cue is given. This will prevent your dog from rushing the kennel door when your go to release them. As mentioned before the door should only be added security rather then the thing containing them.

Kennel Game # 3

Building drive/ excitement about the kennel. This one is particularly important for us where Kobi is still a little less then thrilled about the kennel. In agility this is called "Push Back and Jam". Get your dog lined up in front of the kennel, standing or sitting. Show them the treats you have in your hand (his kibble) and toss them to the back of the kennel (I find it helps if it hits the back wall so they can hear it). Push lightly on their chest and when they are looking straight into the kennel, release them in a very excited voice and watch them rush straight in! Just don't forget to use your release cue when they exit the kennel afterwards.

How to Build a Practice Agility Tunnel

We were finally introduced to some of the agility equipment in our final two foundations classes, and Kobi's lack of confidence became incredibly apparent. Kobi was able to get through every obstacle at least once, but simply being around them freaked him out and actually cause him to have some out bursts towards other dogs that got to close to his space.

Since adopting Kobi, he has been terrified of enclosed spaces and it's that reason that we decided to not crate train him. But his fear of enclosed spaces reared its ugly head when we tried to get Kobi to go into the tunnel. He wanted nothing to do it and found it incredibly stressful. So I decided that in my two weeks off before starting level 2 I needed to boost his confidence, and what better way then to start with the scariest obstacle first, but to do that I needed a tunnel, and for anyone who has looked into getting themselves a tunnel there are only two options. You can either get the real deal for $150 (not in my price range) or you can buy a kid's tunnel, but they tend to be on the small side. So I decided to get creative a make one!

For less than $20 I was able to make a 4ft practice tunnel. It wouldn't support a curve, but is great for a dog like Kobi who just needs to learn that going through the tunnel isn't all that bad, and I can then start building some drive for the tunnel. This size is also perfect for indoor use and for small backyards as it can be collapsed or expanded for transport and various sizes to practice with.

What you'll need:

- A tarp (any size you want, I used a 4ftX 6ft tarp)
- Tarp tape or duct tape
- Coiled rubberized tubing (mine was about an inch in diameter, you could go smaller but I wouldn't get much bigger.

According to agility rules tunnels must range from 20"-24" diameter in competition. I made mine 24".
1. Cut your tubing to the appropriate length, I only needed about half of mine. Keep in min you need enough length for the coils to size properly, but you don't want so much that you can't alter the size of the tunnel.
2. Create a 24" loop at each end of the tubing
3. Coil all your tubing up so the spirals are the appropriate diameter.
4. You may need a hand for the next couple of steps, line each of the loops with the edge of the tarp and tape the loops to the tarp.
5. Spread the coils out and try to ensure they're all about the same size.
6. Start taping the coils to the tarp.

7. Roll the the tarp around the coils and continue taping
8. Repeat step 7 until all the tarp is wrapped around the coil.
9. Tape down any seems and make sure the coils are securely attached to the tarp so the dog doesn't trip wen going through the tunnel.
 10. Enjoy!

Kobi trying to help out

It's not the prettiest tunnel around but it serves it's purpose.

Wow.

I have yet again failed miserably at keeping track of things and updating. I've been intensely busy with teaching motorcycle courses, working at the theater and with just life in general. Well things are finally settling down and it looks like I'll find some time to post again.

Here's a quick run down of what's been going on in our lives.

Couple of Sunday's ago we went to the Paws for a Cause dog walk at the Dingle park. Kobi did half awesome half terrible, and I think the terrible was more my fault. The walk started over an hour late meaning we had to stand around for the entire time and that is not something Kobi enjoys. The walk was great, but short, I wish they had planned a longer route. After the walk, I should have left, but I didn't because someone hinted that we would be winning the owner dog look alike, and we did, but as they decided to finally give us our prize Kobi hit his threshold and flipped out. But that was my fault for not leaving when I should have.

The goodies we won... not worth the out busrt from Kobi.

Last week in class we finally encountered some agility equipment and I was soooo impressed with Kobi. He has such low confidence that silly little things scare the crap out of him. We started with a teeter board and thanks to teaching him "Step Up" he immediately planted his feet on the board without hesitation. When the board moved he was a little freaked out but thanks to lots of praise and treats he didn't get totally freaked out. We had some trouble with the tunnel, our trainer had to help direct him inside while I played with his toy on the other side, but he went through once! Same thing happened with the tire, but he got through once which makes me happy!

Kobi and I went on our first ever walk with no treats!!! That's right, not a single treat! And he still stayed at my side and didn't bark once. All the hard work paid off! His loose leash walking has come along so well I'm not able to walk Kobi and Scout together again! I used to have to walk them one at a time so that I could give Kobi my full attention.

We bought ourselves a dog crate. I have never been a fan of crate training and don't think it's necessary for us, but after going to that fun match a little while back I realized just how useful a crate could be in those environments. If I had been participating in the match I along with everyone else would need to go check out the course without Kobi, I would need to pay fees, go to the bathroom, get stuff from the car, all without Kobi. So a crate is really the only option for us. It's currently set up in our living room with the door removed so he can go in and out as he pleases, so far he still prefers out. But he's been eating all his meals from the crate and I frequently toss some treats or a toy in to get him going inside and realizing that the crate is becoming the source for all things fun and yummy. Kobi is terrified of confined spaces so we're taking it slow, I'm not pushing him in or getting him in and closing the door on him, he'll learn to love it on his own time.

Well I think that's about it that's happened. I'll be sure to try to do a better job at keeping up to date from now on.

Day Behind

So I totally missed the Dog Agility Blog Action Day regarding attitude, but it's something I think is important so here's my quick thoughts about it before heading off to work.

Kobi has been making leaps and bounds in his progress lately and part of that could be due to him maturing, but part of my likes to think it has to do with my attitude towards him. For so long I was so convinced he would be the best Therapy Dog there ever was even though he's so far presented all the signs of being the worst Therapy Dog. I kept comparing him to Scout and thinking "If only you were more like Scout". Well guess what, Kobi is not Scout. Obvious to most other people, but it was hard for me to accept that. Scout it Scout. Scout is amazing and truely one of a kind, why I thought I could magically conjure up a mini Scout was ridiculous. Kobi is Kobi. Sure he can be annoying and frustrating, but I wouldn't trade him for the world.
Kobi is an amazing little guy and he makes me happy. Scout does to, but in a different way. Scout is my calm compassionate side where as Kobi is my fun goofy side.

Learning to accept Kobi was huge, lowering my expectations of him was another huge step, but the efforts are paying off. We've just gotten started in agility and I am amazed with him. I see the others in class clearly struggling to get their dogs to even just play with a tug toy while Kobi does it with gusto.  I can sometimes see the jealous faces gazing our way with the interior monologue of "why can't my dog be like that". What they probably don't realize is that the second the exercise is done and we go back to relaxing, I'm the one looking around in jealousy. The class doesn't really see the ridiculous side of Kobi until the trainer attempts to use him for a demo then has to switch to another dog because he's just soooooo excited.

My attitude so far in agility has been a pretty relaxed one. I'm letting things be, I'm having fun. That's what matters. I still really really want to do Therapy Dog with Kobi, but I'm not ready to try. I know I would fail him because I would expect too much from him. With agility though, I'm doing it for fun.I'm doing this for Kobi as a way for him to have a job in the hopes that he learns some of the focus and skills he'll eventually need for Therapy Dog work. I constantly see that jealous face on people at classes, seizing each other up and trying to determine who has the best dog. There seems to be a real competitiveness involved in agility. I honestly don't care about that. I'm doing this for us, all that matters is me and Kobi (and Scout). If he struggles with something, I'll make an effort to work harder on it, not get mad at him. If he has a reaction, I asses what I could have done to prevent it. Right now my agility world is a little bubble that consists of me and the work I'm doing with Kobi, no one else matters. I'm having a blast with training and I want it to remain that way, the second agility isn't fun anymore, what's the point?

I look forward to all that we have to teach each other in the up coming years.

Difficulties of Apartment Dog Living

I consider myself incredibly lucky to be in the apartment I'm currently in. We have a fantastic land lord who lived in the space previously with his two weimerainers. We have a yard which is pretty rare in Halifax rentals, and we live in a fantastic dog friendly neighborhood.

Now all that being said there are difficulties that come from being in an apartment no matter what.

Having a reactive dog, little things like sounds are a big barking trigger for Kobi. We are fortunate to be on the top floor flat of the building, but that being said, when new tenates move in or out, he gets very stressed, we can also sometimes hear the people downstairs moving things around or walking around (not sure how that works). The sounds of doors slamming is also another thing that bothers Kobi.

We consider ourselves to be relatively private renters, we like to do our own thing on our own time and don't force ourselves into getting to know our neighbours, however, when you have a dog, things don't always seem to work out that way. There is usually a lot of explaining of our dogs behaviours, such as him freaking out if we try to walk out our front door at the same time as the down stairs neighbour, or if they try to wave and say hi on the street.

Having a shared backyard also makes things interesting. The previous tenants downstairs rarely if ever used the yard space meaning we felt safe letting Kobi and Scout out at pretty well any time of day. Our new tenants on the other hand have a dog of their own (which is great for when they want to play because they get along great),  but isn't so great when Kobi needs to go out to the bathroom. There is nothing worse then your poor dog trying to find a spot to pee only top be rushed at by the other dog wanting to play.

Finally, with our shared backyard, is the entrance to the basement unit of the building, meaning to get in and out of their unit they must come through the backyard. For most of the year we have had little to no interaction with this tenant, but when we do, it's not very pleasant. I will be letting Kobi out for his morning pee (on a long line incase situations like this happen) when the downstairs tenant will burst out the door which freaks Kobi out. He hates nothing more then having people just appear in  "his" backyard. Kobi will usually charge at the "intruder" barking like crazy, and if he assess he's not too scared, jump on them.
Now I know this is by no means good behaviour from Kobi, but what bothers me is how disdained this tenant gets when it happens. This tenant rented the unit knowing full well it was a dog friendly apartment, knowing they had to enter and exit through the dog area. I've tried talking to this tenant before to explain that Kobi gets freaked out, but they refuse to acknowledge me and will even lower their head and ignore me if I pass them on the street (with or without the dogs). I understand that they are fully entitled to their privacy, but if living in a three unit dog friendly building with yard entrance seems to be such an annoyance, why not live in a low rise or high rise where you can be truely annonymous. Lastly of my pet peeves with this particular renter, there are so many people in Halifax desperately seeking dog friendly rentals, and this one is being wasted on someone who clearly is not a fan of them (they don't even like Scout and all Scout does is stand there).

Despite my frustration with certain aspects of apartment living, I love where we live, I love our unit, we have awesome landlords and it's great that  Kobi has a doggy friend to play with. Dog friendly apartments are hard to come by and compared to our last rental, this place is a palace.

Low Calorie Treats

 

For constantly having treats floating around the house in copious amounts for training, our dogs rarely get treats just for treats.

Kobi gets so many treats within the day as part of his training efforts that I never feel that he needs treats for treats. When he does get a treat it's usually a long lasting bone to keep him occupied for a little while. 

The trick with treats at our house is making sure there is a fair balance, which I usually fail at. If I'm training at home with Kobi, he'll be getting a pile of treats while poor Scout just looks on longingly. But if they are getting a large treat we make sure to give them each one of the same thing to ensure fairness and no fighting. Recently I discovered that Kobi goes crazy for carrots which is a blessing because I can now give him a full carrot in the place of a bone and because Kobi is such a slow chewer it takes him almost as long to eat the carrot as it takes him to eat a bone.

Now that being said, Kobi must preform a task to get a treat, whether he's training or I'm giving him a bone, he has to work for it, and the bigger the treat, the harder he has to work (multiple commands in a row), where as Scout on the other hand, just gets the treat. He's worked hard over the years we've had him and preformed trick after trick when on his Therapy Dog visits, Scout is a retired dog.

When we did do Therapy Dog visits low calorie treats were a must for us. Some volunteers have tried to not allow their dogs any treats during visits to avoid a growing waistline, but I personally found that people would get disappointed when told that they couldn't give your dog  a treat.

When I was doing my visits with Scout I had gotten into making treats and at the time low calorie dog treats weren't really in demand. So we found two types of treats that worked for us, they weren't the healthiest of treats, but they were the perfect size and were low in calories, meaning Scout could eat a pile of them on his visits, skip a little food at dinner then still be on track.

When visiting we used primarily Good Bites dog treats, they were small mini shaped bones (and sadly the look of the treat when doing therapy dog visits is important to, people like the idea of giving a dog a bone, even if it's a miniature bone.) We would also use the Temptation Cat treats as a last resort when we couldn't find the Good Bite treats.

The only problem that arose from using these small treats was having to prove to people that Scout wouldn't munch their fingers off when presenting him with a treat and having to show kids in particular, how to give a treat in the palm of their hand if they were nervous that Scout would nip their fingers. Scout was always a gentlemen and never lunged at treats, he would gently take the end sticking out from your fingers and wait for you to release the treat before practically swallowing it whole.

Now that I've started making my own treats I'm hoping to make some treats that are just for treats. As Kobi progresses in his training he requires fewer and fewer treats on daily activities such as walks, leaving room to give him a couple more just because. And Scout, he'll continue to get treats just because.

WOW, it's been so long!

So it's been almost a full two weeks since my last post! Life has been crazy to say the least. With the summer months for me comes more work. During the summer I'm a a Safe Rider Trainer, which is essentially a fancy way of saying that I teach people how to drive motorcycles. I've been working a lot recently and my days start around 6 am and I get home around 6, so updating my blog has been pretty low on my priority list.

That being said we've had some major leaps forward in Kobi's progress, as well as some steps back.

Two sunday's ago we went to the Blue Nose Marathon. (My phone died a couple days ago and the pictures of Kobi at the event got lost....). We walked around the downtown area for about two hours in some pretty intense crowds, something Kobi has only encountered once last year. I went prepared with lots of treats and low expectations. I've been noticing a lot recently that when I have zero expectations of Kobi, is when he does his best, where as when I do have some expectations of him is when he seems to struggle. Kobi did amazing in the crowds, there was lots of loud noise, people running and yelling and he stayed relaxed. He let people meet him politely and met some other dogs politely. All in all it was a fantastic morning.













Later that afternoon we went camping in Porters Lake for the long weekend. Getting there was a bit stressful as I had to pack everything up on my own which meant I forgot a few things. This was our second time camping with Kobi. We went camping last year at Dollar Lake and had a fantastic time. This time was rough, mainly for Kobi. Because it was the long weekend the campgrounds were packed, and every camper seemed to have a dog, so even though we chose a relatively private walk in site, the two adjacent sites had running kids and young playful dogs. So Kobi spent almost the entire two days growling and barking from discomfort. I would like to go camping again but I think I will do several things differently with regards to Kobi to ensure he has a more relaxing time and actually enjoys the experience more.

We also had another fantastic agility class this week. We worked on a few skills that sadly I didn't have much time to work on at home before class but that didn't seem to stop him from learning the new skills and preforming them incredibly well. What was most exciting was the fact that he was able to get ramped up and work, but choose on his own to go back to his bed and relax. This is huge progress because he is starting to recognize when he is getting overwhelmed and choosing to relax rather then continue to get revved up.

Lastly we tagged along with a friend of mine yesterday to a fun match in mount uniake. I've never been to a fun match before so it was new for both me an Kobi. The event took place at an old horse barn, so Kobi and I found a stall to set up a blanket for me to sit on, Kobi's bed and get out a pile of treats. For most of the time we just sat and relaxed, walked around a bit and did some basic work such as circles and nose touches to my hand and to a target. Kobi had a bit of trouble with the sound of people walking on gravel at first but quickly settled down and stopped reacting to it. We finally got the chance to meet Shiva and Kristine from Rescued Insanity and got the chance to see Shiva do a fantastic run as well as see some of her quirky antics. (I seem to be having zero luck with phones. I had a video of Shiva's run but I uploaded Harleys first and now it's just gone along with all the pictures from my phone. I'll make sure to post it later if I ever manage to retrieve it.)

Posts are coming soon!

I've kind of fallen off the face of the earth this last week. It's our first week of Kamp K9 and I'm sad that I wasn't able to achieve the goals I wanted. That being said we did get out for a two hour walk on Sunday to walk Kobi through some crowds at the Blue Nose Marathon  (which I will post about later) and we also went camping sunday night (also I will post about later).
My fiance's grandfather has been incredibly sick in the hospital which means the pups have been couped up at home most days this week because we've been at the hospital or I've been helping look after my fiance's little sister. Then yesterday and today I'm working a motorcycle training shift (during the summer months I teach people how to drive motorcycles). The shifts are two days from 8am to 5pm and usually I have to bolt straight for my evening job and work from 4ish to about 11pm. So, intensely long days for me with no time to write up posts.
Hopefully I'll find time this weekend as I do have some great things I would love to post about!

Thank you!

I'm writting on a different computer than I usually do so please don't hate me if there ends up being loads of typos.

This morning Kobi and I had our third agility class, and the trend is continuing. Kobi was silent, focused and calm the entire class. I was so elated after class I actually sent the trainers at Sublime Canine a big thank you email. I feel like they are hugely responsible for the progress we have been making. I'm doing all the work and it's a massive amount, but they have been there for me. They have been there to help encourage me on our bad days and to ensure me with the work we're doing that we would get there. They have supported me by allowing me to come in and train independently during other classes and have tolerated a large number of emails with piles of questions. They have shown me the right path to take with our training and how to troubleshoot the problems we run into. I don't think Kobi and I would be where we are today without them.

I have been able to take relaxing walks in our neighbourhood for the last month. I am able to run with Kobi without a single lunge or reaction. I am able to take him to stores and have him remain quiet for about 75% of the time. I really had to take a few steps back in our training at one point but the leaps forward we are making as a result are astounding. Kobi is just over a year and is shaping up to have pretty awesome off leash skills and recall. I'm able to take him to dog class and not have a single reaction. I'm able to keep him focused, get him riled up then settle him back down. Tomorrow I'm planning on walking him through some of the crowds from the Bluenose Marathon, something just a couple of months ago that would have stressed me out and made me disapointed because I would have wanted him to do well but in reality would have been too hard for him.

All the progress we have been making lately w're making thanks to the amazing trainers at Sublime Canine. They care about you and your dog. If you are willing to put in the time and effort needed to correct their behaviours, they are 100% more then willing to be there for you every step of the way.
I was skepticle of their training when I first started almost a year ago, i was a fan of Caesar Millan and his training style and thought clickers and positive reinforcement couldn't work. Boy was I wrong. There were times when I wanted to quit and go back to the dominace style training because I just wasn't getting the results I wanted. They encourged me to stay on course and that it would pay off, and it has. We still have a very long way to go, Kobi is far from being a perfect awesome dog like my older guy Scout, but he has amazing potential. I knew it was there, I like to think that's why i picked him.

In the begging I wanted a dog that was naturally calm who would be a breeze to train, that wasn't what I go. But now, I'm almost happier that it has worked out this way. Kobi and I have a true bond that w continue to grow. We learn together and make progress together. I have learned so much about training because of the work I do with Kobi that I am now able to apply it to the dogs I train the SPCA.

Thank you Kobi for just being you, it was me who needed to learn to love him and accept him for who he is. I had to learn that he is not Scout and will never be Scout, he's Kobi.

And thank you Sublime Canine for guiding me over the last year, I can't wait to see what the next year brings!

The Nickname Game

I came across the Nick Name Game from Sarge Speaks Out. It is supposed to be a contest where my blog readers vote on what you think the best nickname for my critters are, but I just wanted to use it as an excuse to list their nicknames. I don't think we have the most creative nicknames out there, but I'm always fascinated by nicknames. I'm the type of person that takes time choosing an animals name to make sure it perfectly suits them, which can take weeks sometimes! I always find it funny though how after having them in your life for even just a few days, the nicknames start coming in force. Below are the nicknames that we have for our two dogs and two cats. We also have two geckos but they haven't developed names beyond their names, as cool as geckos are they're geckos.

  

Scout's Nicknames:

Scout Man

Big Man

Bud

Buddy

Big Poops

Big Guy

 Kobi's Nicknames:

Kobes

KobeBeef

Beef

Beefcake

Poopy

Poops

Snaggle (when he was a puppy and had snaggly teeth)

Nibbler

Premium Pup

 Keiko's Nicknames:

Keiks

ChubbaChub (one friends name for her)

Fatty Fat Fat (Another friend's name for her)

Tubby

Chubs

Keiko is often teased for being such a tiny cat but being so intensely fluffy makes her look huge in comparison to our even tinier kitten.

Ash's Nicknames:

Kitten

Flopps

Menace

Munch

Flopps McGee

No Bones

Do you're critters have fun nicknames?

Kamp K9

So I'm still relatively new to blogger land and still figuring out how it all works, but I came across the K9 Kamp challenge put on by Kol and Kelly.

I have always owned older dogs who weren't the most active. We would try and do some fun activities with them once in a while but sadly by the end they were pooped for the next week. I will admit that when I first adopted Scout, one of his potential names was Obi, short for Obese because he was the fattest dog I had ever laid eyes on. I'm mean there was a whole other dog living around his mid section.
Once we got him home and out on daily walks and structured feeding, he lost all the weight and we discovered that lovely waist line hidden within. Because we worked so hard at getting all the excess dog off Scout, that's why it bothers me so much when people tell me my dog is fat. He is big boned and barrel shaped, yes, but for his age (13 years) he is as slim as he is going to get.

Maybe a year after we adopted him, he still has a lot of weight in this picture.

But that's besides the point. I knew this time when I adopted a dog I wanted a younger one for a few reasons, one being I wanted a dog I could be active with, a dog that would help encourage me to be more active and to explore this wonderful city that I live in.

Within the last year alone I have gone places with Kobi I never knew existed, or just had no motivation to check out. Thanks to Kobi I have even started jogging! Something I hate! With a passion. But Kobi motivates me to get out an run for at least 20 minutes every morning. We started off with me not being able to run a full minutes, but now I can run almost a full 20 min without breaks (aside from some sniff and pee breaks) and at a decent pace! Something I never thought I would be able to do.

I like being fit, but I hate the gym, I've tried working out at home but it's just boring. Why confine myself indoors with other sweaty stinky people when I can get fit with my dog?
Being active with Kobi is helping to not only build my strength and stamina, but his as well. With us starting out in agility if I can have a strong physical foundation for both of us, hopefully it will make running a course easier when we do finally get there.

Now, I would be lying if I said there was no benefit for me. I am a very lucky person in that I have been the same weight since high school (almost 5 years ago now), and have pretty well remained the same shape and weight my entire life with only minor fluctuations. I am frequently scoffed at when I tell people I wouldn't mind losing a tiny bit of weight or just exercising because I want to be more fit. Just because I am lucky to be naturally slim doesn't give me the right to just laze around on the couch all day, I still eat well and I remain active which probably helps me stay the weight I am.

Now, I am getting married in two and half months! And I, like every other bride out there, want to look my best on my wedding day. To me that means losing, one maybe two inches if I'm lucky off my hips. Reason being, I purchased a sample size mermaid style wedding dress that at present has little to no walking room through the thighs. It has room to be let out up to four inches which will make a big difference, but if I can lose at least an inch around my hips that will give me 5 more inches or room to walk and move in my dress. Jogging is helping and eating a fresh diet is also helping, but Kamp K9 will help take me to the next level in ensuring I have goals that I can work towards and keep creative to avoid getting stuck in a rut and losing motivation.

This is my first year participating in K9 Kamp, but hopefully it won't be the last. Too bad today isn't a great starter. It' pouring rain and there is thunder, which even indoors is making Kobi very uneasy. So though I'm not squimish about walking in the rain I won't torture him. Instead  we're working on calm and quiet, we'll do some more training and wait for the thunder to stop.

Building Confidence

Next week in our agility class we are supposed to start working on some rear end awareness and one of the tricks we need to work on is Kobi to back up on command. So I did a quick youtube search and found a video suggesting to make a narrow passage using barricades and placing lower value treats at the back and rewarding them for backing out of the passage with a higher value treat.

 Great idea, except one problem. Kobi is nervous of tight spaces, but I wanted to try anyway. So I started tossing treats in, and he wouldn't go near it. So I lowered my criteria, tossed treats about a foot away and as he got more comfortable I would toss them closer. I took him less then a minute to figure out treats came from inside this place. Once he started taking a step or two in I stopped the session and went to finish cooking dinner. After dinner I just wanted to see what would happen if I tossed a couple more treats in, and what do you know! He went in! No problem.

 So I pulled out the camera and filmed the rest. I wish I filmed the first part to show that his total training on this was maybe three minutes with a break in between. But you can see from the video he eventually was just hanging out waiting for his next treat and even stretches towards the end. In the first session he back out as soon as he got the treat!
Once I stopped the session he actually went in on his own a couple of times to check and see if any treats magically appeared!

I'm hoping agility will help boost his confidence, and with that he will become less reactive because he won't beso scared of things any more.

Freeze Dried Liver Treats

Treats can be expensive, especially liver based treats, which is why I started making my own. A few months ago I listed a recipe for how to make dehydrated liver treats. These treats are great, except they take a lot of prep time and the smell that permeates the house when baking the treats is vile. So I decided to start making freeze dried liver treats.

These treats are quick and easy to make, and are also a great summer treat for hot pooches.
I've found that Calf Liver seems to work better for these treats, but if you can't find calf liver that's alright just make sure the liver is fully cooked.

• Boil the liver until fully cooked, about 45minutes if using a full piece, 20 minutes if cut into chunks.

• Drain, cool and cut. Cut the treats into thin pieces, the thicker the cut the longer it will take for the treats to dry out. I also personally like long thing pieces that are easy to break up.

• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the treats out.

• Place in your freezer. The cooler the freezer the better the results. Leave the treats for at least one week, longer may be needed for thicker pieces.

• As they dry they will take on a white freezer burnt colour.

• To check that they are ready pull a couple out and let them thaw, if they are squishy they are not fully dried.

Leave them in the freezer until ready to use them. Use as a cool tasty treat or as training treats.

The Whopper Dropper

This weekend I was invited to tag along on a hike to the Whopper Dropper, aptly named because it's located behind a Burger King and is a mountain bike trail with lots of drops!

 I had always known about the little road the went up into the woods behind the Burger King in Bayers Lake but had never gone exploring thinking it was a little sketchy, and admittedly walking up and getting into the trails it is, especially when met but old couches and beds and garbage. But a few more meters in and it was stunning. I could not believe that Halifax had such an amazing trail system hidden away behind a regular old business park.

This was a heavily wooded area with large open granite slabs. What I found to be the coolest thing was all the mountain bike equipment built into the trails, there were bridges and ramps and risers and everything you could possibly imagine! Kobi epically failed at crossing the first of the bridges, attempting to run full tilt across and not paying attention to the spacing of his paws, so he stumbled and got stuck in the bridge and got very scared of them.

 We came across a few more, some he could avoid and did, others he had no choice but to cross them. He did eventually figure it out which was a huge confidence booster for him! At one point we came across a large boulder with ramps leading up either side, all the other dogs climbed up without issue, Kobi took a lot of convincing to come up, but he did!!

I sadly was stupid and forgot to put my memory card back in my camera so I didn't get very good shots, just whatever I could get on my phone. That being said though the pace that we walked made it impossible to pull my camera out so I would love to go back another time for a more leisurely hike to get some better shots, and possibly even take a swim at one of the many lakes hidden away inside.

As a side note, this is a pretty intense trail system. If you're looking for maintained walking paths and smooth surfaces, this is not the place to go. Also if you have a terrible sense of direction, bring a GPS. I have a pretty good sense of direction and if I wasn't with people who knew the trails I would have very easily gotten lost because all the trails look the same after a while.

 If you're into hiking and have a couple of hours to explore, this is an awesome spot.  Also note that their is wildlife in the area, the other dogs all had bells on their collars to scare off any wildlife they might encounter and the darker coloured dogs wore fluorescent scarves or shirts to avoid blending into the scenery.

The Hard Work Pays off!

I have been taking Kobi to Point Pleasant Park on Sunday mornings since he was about 4 months old last year. We let him off leash in the off leash areas and walk our way down to the off leash field area near the water. Walking down to the off leash area is still a bit of a challenge where it's usually first thing in the morning, there are lots of other dogs and Kobi is very excited.

I like to try to get Kobi to work on a stay while I unclip his leash and walk away, but I also try to make it fair. If there are lots of other dogs running around  and I know it's too hard then I don't bother.

Every 10 minutes or so we call Kobi to Come. We stand in place and wait for him to come and sit. Because we've spent so long working on this Kobi now has a pretty reliable recall, and the fact that we trained it in the dog park has made it all the stronger. We always make sure to have yummy high reward treats with us though.

I always reward Kobi for choosing to walk calmly beside me off leash. This has taken more work because everything else is so exciting. But by consistently rewarding him beside me then sending him away again, he more often chooses to stay by my side.

Check out the focus!!

Walking loosely  on leash on our way out of the park. Leaving is always so much easier then walking in.


Keep working at it and it will pay off! I always find it amazing how one day things just seem to click for dogs. You struglle for so long then suddenly they just get it and are able to do it.